A Charlottesville/Albemarle Area RE Blog tracking the market's Boom Bubble Bust Bounce, from 2008 to 2013. The second half of 2010 saw a steep downward spiral in sales; 2011 saw sales volume at 13 yr lo with prices dropping each Quarter. 2012 began with even lower prices which resulted in an uptick in Y/Y sales, and mid-2012 saw "Carpe Diem" trumping "Caveat Emptor." 2013: Booming. Are we a "Protected Market" once again? Time will tell.
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Monday, October 3, 2011

With Nat'l New Home Sales At 50 Year Low, Media Outlet for Builders Overlooks Charlottesville's 16% Annual Decline in Sales, Deems Market "Healthy"

"Builder Online" is a website for those in the construction business, run by Hanley Wood, which describes itself as "The No. 1 Media Company Covering Construction."

Builder Online states, in its methodology section, that it's privileging markets that have Universities and Military. That's true of C'ville. Add the two hospital systems and it seems like this should be a "healthy" market. It's years away from "balance" (equal # buyers and sellers) however. Think 2015.

Image below copyright Builder Online.Click for larger version in new window.

Sure, there are folks buying new homes. And this area--and most housing markets in the United States--may be called lots of things. But most of them can't be called "healthy."

Va. Housing Development Authority market data for the local Realtors Assn. indicates rising foreclosures, declining prices, then "correction" at least 12 months away.Comparisons: See Current Median Home Prices in Cville, Alb, other parts of VA, and 20 other markets.

Home prices likely lower in 2011, in 85% of the United States' 381 metropolitan areas - PMI Group. Includes graphs.VP Biden - We "Misread the Economy" - VideoThe number of foreclosures keeps rising because mortgageholders can't afford the modifications. Read the data.

Halsey Minor, King of The Tyvek Tower, is being sued not just by contractors, but by the funding bank. TheLandmark Mess continues. City claims it will not bail out the blight on the landscape and a real contrast to the $7.5 million in bricks at the base of the steel girders.